Chapter 2. a History of California Agriculture
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A History of California Agriculture Chapter 2. A History of California Agriculture Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode Abstract Authors' Bios The history of California agriculture entails a story Alan L. Olmstead is a distinguished research professor of innovation and conflict as farmers and their allies in the Department of Economics at the University repeatedly remolded their environment to create an of California, Davis and a member of the Giannini extraordinarily diverse and production agricultural- Foundation of Agricultural Economics. He can be contacted industrial complex. This is not just a story of the triumph of by email at [email protected]. Paul W. Rhode is a individual entrepreneurial initiative in a largely unfettered professor in the Department of Economics at the University competitive economy, because the actual outcomes often of Michigan and a research associate at the National Bureau depended far more than commonly realized on aggressive of Economic Research. government interventions that defined access to land, water, markets, technologies, and labor; and which helped, often despite farmer objections, control potentially catastrophic plant and animal diseases. 1 California Agriculture: Dimensions and Issues Table of Contents Abstract .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 Authors' Bios ............................................................................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................................................3 The Grain Empire ...................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Bonanza Farms ...............................................................................................................................................................................................4 Biological Innovation and Failure ..............................................................................................................................................................4 Intensification and Diversification ....................................................................................................................................................................5 Indicators of Change .....................................................................................................................................................................................5 Table 1. California’s Agricultural Development ........................................................................................................................5 Figure 1. Distribution of California Cropland Harvested, 1879–2007 ...............................................................................6 Explaining the Transition ..............................................................................................................................................................................6 Hitherto Neglected Factors .........................................................................................................................................................................7 The Cost of Capital ................................................................................................................................................................................7 Biological Learning ................................................................................................................................................................................7 California’s White Gold ........................................................................................................................................................................................9 The Introduction of Cotton ..........................................................................................................................................................................9 Figure 2. California Cotton, 1910–2017 .....................................................................................................................................9 Mechanization .................................................................................................................................................................................................9 One-Variety Community ............................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Livestock Production ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Ranching .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 3. Livestock Inventories, 1850–2007 .......................................................................................................................... 11 Dairy Herds .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Government Interventions to Control Diseases .................................................................................................................................. 12 Mechanization and Farm Power ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Induced Innovation, Path Dependency, and Supply-Side Forces .................................................................................................. 14 Farm Power .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 The Grain Harvest ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 15 Irrigation ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................17 Reshaping the Landscape ..........................................................................................................................................................................17 Irrigation Districts ..........................................................................................................................................................................................17 Adverse Consequences ............................................................................................................................................................................. 18 Labor ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 A History of Strife ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 A Comparative Perspective....................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Table 2. Agricultural Labor in California and the United States ......................................................................................20 Labor Mobility...............................................................................................................................................................................................20 The Domar Model ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 21 The Puzzle of Labor-Intensive Crops in a High-Wage Economy .......................................................................................................... 23 Wages, Land, and Transportation ........................................................................................................................................................... 23 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 24 An Emphasis on Quality ...........................................................................................................................................................................